Cut it or leave it?

froeschliJuly 7, 2014

This is my last leaf of pink dove. I has some roots, but no mouse ears yet. Everything else I got at the convention has babies by now (or died all the way).
The 'spot' is growing very slowly, so I've been leaving it, but I am getting a bit worried, because I was hoping to have plant lets before it's overtaking the entire leaf...

If you cut the damaged part all the way you have a better chance of having the leaf continue to grow and produce babies. If you leave the brown spot it will only continue to get larger and eventually rot the entire leaf. I would definitely cut it.

You could just sit and watch the whole thing rot ;) If you trim the bad back to healthy tissue, it has a good chance.

Now this is new for me. I've had several (mostly small ones) where the leaf looked fine but when I tugged them, the whole stem had rotted. Sometimes it was one of a pair. I now have the leaf top set of one. I don't quit easily.

This isn't the greatest photo, but it is a picture of some leaves I set toward the end of April. It's hard to see but notice the (shaky) arrow and the circles? After I set them, I lost most of the big variegated leaf to rot, the tip of the other leaf, and one whole small leaf. I would have blamed it on them touching the side of the box, except the little leaf wasn't even crowded. (I do know how to do better lines, just couldn't do it that night.)

However, I did rearrange them so they didn't touch the sides. Now most of them have babies. The "twin" of the tiny leaf has plantlets, the one with the trimmed tip has them, and the big variegated ones are firmly rooted and the whole one has them down under. There was probably about 1/4 left of that other leaf but it held on and rooted. As I recall, the problems occurred quite soon after I set them so I think they may have been a little chilled since the damage was so spotty.

Thanks, Joanne. Not the greatest of photos but those leaves were trimmed and came through just fine so I thought it might help. I trimmed that Wrangler's several times and didn't think it would survive it but it did.

(I have never used anything on the cuts but I do try to let them dry off before covering them over with the bag or whatever.)

I find the cinnamon really helps keep the rot from spreading. I have a leaf that I had to cut down to almost nothing and it is beginning to send up babies. It is about the size of my little fingernail.

It may help. Generally it seems as though cutting out the bad spot works all right too if the rest of the leaf is healthy.

I just saw that someone was dipping the stems in cinnamon before setting them and claimed that helped with rot. Ever try that?

I lost another one that way but it was an iffy leaf anyway. The other one is fine. Since these have all been duplicates, even from people who do not routinely send 2 leaves, I wonder if they knew they weren't top quality, thus the extra. (I appreciate it.) I think the high heat has taken its toll here also with one starting to go bad. I'm taking the babies off it now.

I'm just too cheap to put cinnamon on everything. I did use a rooting hormone for its fungicidal properties on holiday cactus cuttings after one had begun to rot. That worked fine.

It's too bad no one ever does actual studies on anything for african violets. Every time I apply anything, I wonder if it has some bad side effect that no one knows about.

I usually send 2 leaves in a trade. Not because I know they're not top quality (I wouldn't send them if they weren't), but just in case one leaf doesn't make it. Some people only send one leaf, but, in my experience, a majority of people will send 2 of each variety. It's not a reflection on the quality of the leaf.

Most commercials say how many leaves they send. Some will occasionally include an additional one, same variety. Lyons never. I doubt Optimara does but only ordered once (still I was pleased with their leaves.)

I don't think you can compare people who trade with commercial vendors. It's like apples and oranges.

I much prefer two, even 3 is nice on some tiny or difficult varieties. I just took plants off leaves of Happy Harold. The cat had knocked him over for something like the 7th time and I'd set two leaves. Oddly enough, only one had produced babies, something like 5 although I didn't really count. I didn't actually need more Harolds. Still, if my own leaves act like that, why wouldn't a vendor's? The other one was well rooted.

I just looked over my Bloomlovers leaves (so I don't buy stuff I have). Now I know I messed up a time or two and ordered two, but she may have sent a two of some other ones. I do know that she appears more likely to send multiples of the unregistered and, possibly less popular? ones. Apparently I thought I was going to get a bigger house... When you get two varieties in a solo cup, that's a lot of potential plants. I haven't lost a variety yet there although I've lost a leaf or two or three. However you know what to expect and any extra are just ....extra.

I also prefer 2 leaves over a single one. There have been a few I've ordered, like from Bloomlovers, and lost the leaf - thus losing that future plant in my collection as well. Much nicer to have 2 leaves just in case. At least that way I don't feel like I've paid money for something I don't have.